Rorschach had a dream.
He dreamt of lazily lying on a pink cloud, enjoying the sunset on the horizon while eating endless cotton candy by his side.
A fragrant aroma filled him with relaxation, and he was immersed in the soft cloud, not wanting to wake up.
Until the sounds of hunger from his stomach woke him from this beautiful and comforting dream.
Rorschach looked around the bright, feminine room in front of him, feeling a bit groggy.
On the front wall, there were nautical charts with cut-out animal shapes pinned up.
Several paper birds hung from the ceiling, swaying gently in the breeze coming from the window on the right side.
Rorschach was lying on a small, very soft bed, surrounded by several teddy bears, so it wasn't surprising that he felt like he was sleeping on a cloud.
A small blanket covered him, and he could still smell the fragrance.
Shaking his head, still feeling a bit dizzy, he got up from the small bed that was not quite suited to his size and looked around in confusion.
"Where am I?"
He still remembered being in the submarine room, where he tried out the "overload mode" he had been planning, to test the extent of his sensory perception when he unleashed all his electrical power.
And then... nothing after that.
He woke up in this pristine, beautiful room.
However, the last thing he remembered...
"Huh..."
Rorschach's eyes suddenly widened as he took a deep breath.
Because the last thing he remembered was the scene of a comprehensive nautical chart of Marineford, the headquarters of the Navy.
In the moment he activated overload mode, his sensory aura expanded enormously with the support of millions of volts of electricity, covering an entire area of dozens of miles around the naval base.
Although it didn't take long to scan precisely, the impression it left was very profound.
It was as if he had become an external observer, seeing everything in the area as if using satellite navigation, with a complete view without any blind spots.
He could penetrate walls and scan through everything.
Even the thick fortress couldn't hide anything from his sensory aura.
A smile filled with astonishment appeared on Rorschach's face.
"Overload mode is truly amazing. With all that electrical power, my sensory aura expanded to such an extent. But unfortunately, I couldn't test the power of the mode. Well, I'll try that later. Also, how did I get here?"
Rorschach looked around the small room, and this certainly wasn't the trainees' quarters at the naval base. So, he stepped outside, bending slightly to exit through the door.
Outside was a small balcony, and from this balcony, he could see a large courtyard in front of him.
To the right of the corridor was a large fortress, and from the corner, he could glimpse an iron platform.
In the distance, waves of the sea crashed in the darkness.
The house he was in was a standalone building within a small courtyard.
On the left side was another, larger three-story building resembling a tower.
The entire courtyard was over a thousand square meters.
"Is this the Navy base?"
Rorschach wasn't entirely sure.
With a faint glimmer in his eyes, he released his sensory aura, covering a distance of more than two thousand meters.
After a moment of concentration, Rorschach confirmed that he was indeed at Marineford, the Navy headquarters.
Also, the place he was in was on the left side of the main fortress.
He also sensed someone else in this courtyard.
Rorschach descended the spiral staircase to the ground floor and saw that the door was open and light was emanating from inside.
Peeking inside the door, he saw a young girl busy preparing food in the kitchen.
The girl, with her hair in a ponytail, was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a floral apron, humming a happy tune while quickly chopping a large amount of vegetables.
Steam was rising from a large pot on the stove, and plates of prepared meat dishes were placed on top.
"Hibari...?" Rorschach asked softly, unsure.
"Ah."
The girl chopping the vegetables suddenly jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice. She quickly turned around, still holding a shiny kitchen knife.
When she saw Rorschach's face, a look of surprise and delight appeared on the face of the short girl, who was only 1.5 meters tall and had a slightly chubby, baby-like face.
"You're finally awake, Brother Rorschach?"
Hibari dashed forward a few steps but then suddenly stopped, blushing, and awkwardly put the knife down, saying shyly, "I was preparing dinner, Daws and Uncle Deno will come later to eat..."
"Really? Are Daws and Uncle Deno also at the base?" Rorschach asked, feeling happy.
"Yes, Daws is the drill instructor at the recruit training camp, and Uncle Deno works in the base's kitchen. They might be a bit late because the base's kitchen is busy preparing food for the soldiers after their training."
Hibari avoided looking directly at Rorschach, seemingly too shy to meet his gaze.
Noticing Hibari's embarrassment, Rorschach smiled and stepped into the kitchen. He walked over to the large steaming pot, sniffed the aroma of the food.
"Mm, smells delicious. Did you make all this yourself?" he asked, genuinely surprised as he looked at the girl who had placed her hands behind her back, her face filled with pride.
He wasn't pretending.
He was genuinely surprised.
Because the image of Hibari's cooking ability in Rorschach's mind was still stuck on that indescribable meal on the beach of Flameheart City Island.
But the food before him now, though not at the level of the gourmet dishes Chef Deno made on the Akainu warship, at least achieved two out of the three elements: appearance, aroma, and taste.
"Yes, I made them all myself. Impressive, right?" Hibari said proudly, showing a cute smile with her little fangs.
"It's really impressive! How did you manage this in just a year?" Rorschach couldn't help but give her a thumbs up.
At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Now he could rest easy.
No need to find Ro, whose whereabouts were unknown.
Hibari blushed at Rorschach's praise, her face turning red as she murmured in a voice as soft as a mosquito's, "I've been learning cooking from Uncle Deno. During my free time, I would help out in the base's kitchen."
"Wasn't that tiring? The study tasks at the base should be pretty demanding," Rorschach said with a smile as he stepped forward, naturally taking the kitchen knife from her hand and starting to chop the vegetables piled on the counter.
"I... I can do it, Brother Rorschach."
Hibari was stunned for a moment, then quickly rushed forward to take back the knife.
"I'm going to eat this meal too, so of course, I should help prepare it. I can't just watch you do all the work by yourself. Here, you handle the cooking, and I'll help you chop the vegetables."
(End of Chapter)
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